When we have negative reactions to stress, it becomes unmanageable in a way that can be harmful to our bodies and minds. Stress when managed properly may actually be beneficial in your life. Stress at work, with family, and friends, even commuting can be chunked down into a series of small manageable bites.
We grow from the challenges that occur in our lives, rather than from what is easy. Stress is actually an attribute that can help us lead more balanced lives, if we approach it from a positive perspective. The key is to learn how to handle it in a continually constructive way.
When our bodies or our spirits experience stress we instantaneously want to run away from it—which may not actually be the most beneficial route. Pushing through what seems difficult, persevering to the other side and eventually making it through, that’s what makes us stronger.
Like many things, however, too much can be detrimental. What’s important is to find the balance between what is healthy stress and what may become chronic negative stress, for example: anxiety or worry that turns into a long-term health concern.
What are some of the ways that stress may actually make your life healthier? It definitely plays a role when it comes to immunity—leading to an increased production of healthy cells that ward off sickness and disease. Studies at Stanford University show that our bodies produce extra interleukins –chemicals that help regulate the immune system. This action of our bodies taking care of itself is one way stress may be useful for us. Another would be the strategies learned from the experience of a stressful episode, can be used and improved upon in the future. These experiences can make you more successful in your day-to-day endeavors.
Stress has been demonized in our current society, I am suggesting that whatever demands the world is making of you, it is you that is creating the stress. With this mindset, it becomes possible to use all your energy and creativity to solve the individual challenges you are facing, thus eliminating all negative stress from your life.
With this knowledge, that stress may actually be helpful to promoting better physical health, as well as help to provide a competitive edge in career or life aspirations—identify the way that it negatively affects you and change it! Give yourself the opportunity to examine it, and begin to take away the good and discard the bad.